How Your Postrace Attitude Impacts Recovery

As I lay facedown on a massage table in Under Armour’s headquarters, the Senior Manager of Athlete Performance Mike Watts used a Hyperice Hypervolt on my tight right hamstring to help repair my tired, post-New York City marathon body. I casually asked, “Is there an average amount of time that a person takes to recover from a marathon?” knowing very well that the soreness I felt three days post-marathon is totally normal.

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“It depends in what state you go into it,” he said. “How well-rested you are, how well you move, what your nutrition is like. If you go in healthy, and well-trained, it could be as little as 24 and 48 hours.”

He continued to explain that there are a lot of pieces to the recovery puzzle, including sleep, nutrition, and movement. “All of that’s wrapped in mindset,” he said. “There’s a big part of the process in journaling, gratitude, affirmations, and intentions. We know those things are related to the release of serotonin and oxytocin, which can help you recover quicker.”

“So you’re telling me that my post-race attitude could get me back in the game quicker?” I asked.

“Exactly.”

I was intrigued. I immediately evaluated my mood over the past 10 or so years of marathoning. Then, I quickly returned to my laptop to dig into the science.

Physically, it’s not at all surprising that running a marathon puts a lot of stress on the body. Japanese research shows that within a week of conquering 26.2, endurance runners are pretty much back to normal. Analyzing the performance of 11 athletes, maximal aerobic performance capability and measure of threshold and economy were restored seven days post-race.

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The hiccup? We know nothing about how they felt about their performance or even how they ate or slept post-race. So, I shifted my focus to studies on mood and the body, specifically. As it turns out, research shows that when we’re stressed, the body is slower to repair itself. In one University of Illinois at Chicago study, 193 healthy adults received a 3.5-mm circular mouth wound under local anesthesia. Those that showed dissatisfaction or symptoms of stress and depression were slower to recover than those that did not. Studies have also long demonstrated that psychological stress can cause inflammation in the body, which can in turn lead to a number of chronic health conditions.

“When you smile and push out positive energy, you feel good. When you feel disappointed and sad about something, hormonally, the body is in a different place,” explains Paul Winsper, Vice President of Athlete Performance at Under Armour. “That triggers a lot of things: motivation, appetite, sleep. We all know the impact of poor sleep, which turns into not making great decisions. It’s all connected.”

Aubrey Springer, a 27-year-old runner in Tennessee, knows this all too well. After qualifying for the Boston Marathon in 2016, she was prepared for the race of her life regularly running sub 7:30/mile pace runs. Come race day, things didn’t work out as planned. Finishing in 3:46:14, Springer tells me that she was happy to be a Boston finisher, but disappointed in her performance.

“I was excited and happy that it happened, but I was very upset,” she says, reflecting on a race she dreamed of running her entire life. “I didn’t run for a long time. When I started running again, every single one ended miserably. I couldn’t recover. My legs felt heavy. I was struggling to keep up with friends I once ran with effortlessly. My headspace wasn’t there.”

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Winsper says he’s not surprised about Springer’s tough recovery. “She set SMART [specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound] expectations for her performance, and had a let down on race day,” he says. “By being bummed out, she was putting herself at a constant disadvantage to get back into the swing of things.”

Which is exactly why the Athlete Performance team at Under Armour has a protocol they ask of most all of their athletes: Write things down. (Journaling has been shown to increase optimism and improve communication skills.) “Whether they’re satisfied or dissatisfied with their performance after an event, writing things down gives them an avenue to process things and get it all out there,” he says. By figuring out what happened, identifying the good and bad parts, athletes can analyze their performance, then move forward. “Regardless of the outcome, athletes worked hard for that moment. That’s something to be proud of.”

The takeaway: It may be tough to walk down stairs post-race (and no one expects you to tackle another race anytime soon). But one thing that shouldn’t be sore: those 17 smile muscles. Focusing on your mood and exuding positive energy post-race can get you back in the game sooner.

Emily AbbateEmily Abbate is a freelance writer, certified fitness trainer, and host of the podcast Hurdle.

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